BILL BITES #22:
What is Enough? The Future of Illustration for Me and You

I received a lot of responses to my column last month containing Bruce Mau's An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth. From that, some Guild members sent me a few lists of their own. We can look for guidance in the words of wiser practitioners. Here are couple, I like. Illustrator and sage, Milton Glaser reprints his speeches on-line here. Keri Smith is soulful and creative. Her blog is a force for good. It suggests to me that graphic designers and illustrators appreciate a few words of wisdom. We are a creative and sensitive bunch. By our nature, we need time to muse and consider things. In fact, if we are not tuned in and focused, we can be left feeling unsure of ourselves and our businesses.

In recent years much has changed in the world, in politics, in economies and in the graphic arts. I've seen big changes in my illustration business. It's requiring me to learn new technologies, make adjustments in how I do and market my business and muster some optimism. But the fact is, I'm dismayed. I wonder if I've lost my way after 30 years as an illustrator and educator. The healthy skepticism that made me an edgy illustrator has turned me into a perplexed cynic about it.

Why are kids still choosing a career in illustration? I see so many confident and talented freelance illustrators coming out of art school. Will they get work? Where will they get work? Will they be well paid? Will they own their work? Can they freely express themselves? Can they get affordable healthcare? The landscape has changed. The San Francisco Chronicle where I was laid off last year as a staff artist, struggles for readership. Is there still room in traditional publishing for unique images and personal points of view? I can't work the way I did. I just hope I have the energy and pragmatism to reinvent myself a new art career. For now I'm working as a web designer. I paint and write as well.

As a teacher at San Francisco's California College of the Arts I needed to be open and honest about the realities of this business. I couldn't diminish the student's idealism and drive, which I admired. But given how things were changing, I had no more answers for how to live life, conduct business, promote wares, stay current in the game or negotiate the deal. I'll leave that to the other teachers, many of whom I feel are alarmingly similar to those seen in the new film "Art School Confidential".

It's not enough that we make and sell art. It's not about how good, functional or stylish the product is. The new dictum about economics is that you "learn or sell the tools that deliver the content". It's not about the content being well crafted anymore. It's not enough that an illustration is beautiful, provocative and communicates something. In his book, "The World is Flat - A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century", Thomas Friedman tells us about an illustrator friend of his that used to deliver "flap art" or "camera-ready" illustrations to the New York Times in the 1970's. As express couriers and faxes begat computer software and email, the illustrator struggled. What happened was that art became easier to make and deliver. That comodified it. Friedman describes this as one example of the metaphorical "flattening" he sees in the world. Friedman's friend, he goes on to say, adapted his "style" by learning morphing software and became a "morph artist" for clients. The author respected his friend's adaptability within this commodity squeeze. Friedman calls his new illustration specialization the "chocolate sauce" that he put on the "vanilla ice cream" he used to do. Friedman's figurative and frank characterization of new global economics and his observations about the decline and the discounting of craft is a wake up call for the American worker. The illustrator must heed the warning and adapt as well. This may be enough.

Illustrators continue to make beautiful pictures. Illustrators are forming more communities. We are connected and in communication. There are new venues for illustration in film and the Internet. Illustrators may be aptly suited to ride this tidal wave of media convergence. The future for illustration is in a transition stage. Let's be informed and informative about this situation. That might not be enough but it would help.

Comments, etc. to Bill@Billustration.com

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